Premium
The Search for Contributors to Low Rates of Recognition of Paternal Alcohol Use Disorders in Offspring From the San Diego Prospective Study
Author(s) -
Schuckit Marc A.,
Clarke Dennis F.,
Smith Tom L.,
Mendoza Lee Anne,
Schoen Lara
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/acer.14401
Subject(s) - offspring , proband , logistic regression , psychology , alcohol use disorder , generalizability theory , family history , demography , alcohol , medicine , developmental psychology , pregnancy , genetics , biochemistry , chemistry , radiology , sociology , biology , mutation , gene
Background The most efficient approach for establishing family histories (FHs) asks informants about disorders in their relatives (a Family History Method [FHM]). However, FHMs underestimate family diagnoses. We evaluated if accuracies of young adult offspring report of their father’s alcohol use disorders (AUDs) related to the age, sex, education, and/or substance‐related patterns/problems of either the young adult informants or their AUD fathers. Methods Data from the San Diego Prospective Study (SDPS), a multigenerational 35‐year investigation, compared father/offspring pairs where the proband father’s alcohol problems were correctly (Group 1) or incorrectly (Group 2) noted by offspring. In the key analysis, Group 1 versus 2 results were entered into bootstrapped backward logistic regression analyses predicting Group 1 membership. Results Five proband and one offspring characteristic were associated with correct identification of their father’s alcohol problems. None of these related to age, education, or sex. Characteristics associated with correct FHM diagnoses included the father’s FH of AUDs, self‐report of drinking despite social/interpersonal or physical/psychological alcohol‐related problems, spending much time related to alcohol, and his having a religious preference. The single offspring item predicting correct identification of the father’s problems was the number of DSM alcohol problems of the offspring. Conclusions In the SDPS, FHM sensitivity was most closely related to the father’s drinking characteristics, not the offspring characteristics. While unique aspects of SDPS families potentially limit generalizability of results, the data demonstrate how the FHM can offer important initial steps in the search for genetically related AUD risks in a subset of families.